Tertullian: Apology, de Spectaculis; Minucius Felix (Dual Text--Latin and English)

xxvii, 250, 8 pp. Dual text--Latin and English. De Spectaculis, also known as On the Spectacles or The Shows, is a surviving moral and ascetic treatise by Tertullian. Written somewhere between 197-202, the work looks at the moral legitimacy and consequences of Christians attending the circus, theatre, or amphitheatre.[1] Tertullian argues that human enjoyment can be an offence to God.[2] His view of these public entertainments is that they are a misuse of God's creation and a perversion of the gifts God has given to man. He supports his claim by reminding the reader that these shows and spectacles derived from pagan ritual rites (the Liberalia, the Consualia, the Equiria, the Bacchanalia, etc.). This means that the events derive from idolatry. Of key concern was that the "show always leads to spiritual agitation". By attending and partaking in the event, man is subject to strong excitements, which are aroused due to natural lapses, which create passionate desire. Additionally, Tertullian writes that that which is not permissible to say or do should not be permissible to see or hear. Marcus Minucius Felix (died c. 250 AD in Rome)[1] was one of the earliest of the Latin apologists for Christianity. He was of Berber origin.[2] Nothing is known of his personal history, and even the date at which he wrote can be only approximately ascertained as between AD 150 and 270. Jerome's De Viris Illustribus #58 speaks of him as "Romae insignis causidicus" [one of Rome's notable solicitors], but in that he is probably only improving on the expression of Lactantius[3] who speaks of him as "non ignobilis inter causidicos loci" [not unknown among solicitors]. He is now exclusively known by his Octavius, a dialogue on Christianity between the pagan Caecilius Natalis and the Christian Octavius Januarius. Written for educated non-Christians, the arguments are borrowed chiefly from Cicero, especially his De natura deorum (“Concerning the Nature of the Gods”), and Christian material, mainly from the Greek Apologists.[1] The Octavius is admittedly earlier than Cyprian's Quod idola dei non sint, which borrows from it; how much earlier can be determined only by settling the relation in which it stands to Tertullian's Apologeticum.[citation needed] Stoic influences can also be seen in his work.[4]